Pierre-Simon Girard (4 November 1765 – 30 November 1836) was a French

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, who worked on fluid mechanics. Girard was born in

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

. He was in charge of planning and construction of the Amiens canal and the

Ourcq canal The Canal de l'Ourcq is a long canal in the Île-de-France region (greater Paris) with 10 locks. It was built at a width of but was enlarged to 3.7 m (12 ft), which permitted use by more pleasure boats. The canal begins at Port-au ...

. He collaborated with

Gaspard de Prony Baron Gaspard Clair François Marie Riche de Prony (22 July 1755 – 29 July 1839) was a French mathematician and engineer, who worked on hydraulics. He was born at Chamelet, Beaujolais, France and died in Asnières-sur-Seine, France. Educati ...

on the ''Dictionnaire des Ponts et Chaussées'' (Dictionary of Bridges and Highways, 1787). He wrote on fluids, and in 1798 he published a monograph, ''Traité analytique de la résistance des solides'' on

beam theory Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

, including possibly its first history, within the topic of

strength of materials The field of strength of materials, also called mechanics of materials, typically refers to various methods of calculating the stresses and strains in structural members, such as beams, columns, and shafts. The methods employed to predict the re ...

. The complicated beam equations were not of practical much use, since he applied

Euler Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...

's non-linear theory. In 1799, he and other engineers and scientists accompanied Napoleon on his

expedition to Egypt The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, to establish scientific enterprise in the region. It was the ...

. He died in Paris, aged 71.

Important works

The 1798 monograph ''Traite Analytique de la Resistance des solides, et des solides d'e'gale Resistance, Auquel on a joint une suite de nouvelles Experiences sur la force, et Velasticite specifique des Bois de Chine et de Sapin'' was reviewed by

Isaac Todhunter Isaac Todhunter FRS (23 November 1820 – 1 March 1884), was an English mathematician who is best known today for the books he wrote on mathematics and its history. Life and work The son of George Todhunter, a Nonconformist minister, a ...

, and his editor,

Karl Pearson Karl Pearson (; born Carl Pearson; 27 March 1857 – 27 April 1936) was an English mathematician and biostatistician. He has been credited with establishing the discipline of mathematical statistics. He founded the world's first university st ...

as follows.

, ''A History of the Theory of Elasticity and of the Strength of Materials: from Galilei to the Present Time'
Vol. 1. ''Galilei to Saint-Venant 1639-1850''
edited and completed by

This work very fitly closes the labours of the 18th century. It is the first practical treatise on Elasticity; and one of the first attempts to make searching experiments on the elastic properties of beams. It is not only valuable as containing the total knowledge of that day on the subject, but also by reason of an admirable historical introduction... The work appears to have been begun in 1787 and portions of it presented to the Academie in 1792. Its final publication was delayed till the experiments on elastic bodies, the results of which are here tabulated, were concluded at Havre.

References

* André Guillerme: ''Bâtir la ville – révolutions industrielles dans les matériaux de construction''. (1995), éd. Champ Vallon. *

Antoine Picon Antoine (Maurice Joseph Charles) Picon (born 8 March 1957) is a 20th-/21st-century French professor of the History of Architecture and technology and co-director of Doctoral Programs (Doctor of Philosophy, PhD & DDes) at the Harvard Graduate Schoo ...

: ''L'invention de l'ingenieur moderne''. (1992), Presses des Ponts & Chaussées. *

Stephen Timoshenko Stepan Prokofyevich Timoshenko (russian: Степан Прокофьевич Тимошенко, p=sʲtʲɪˈpan prɐˈkofʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tʲɪmɐˈʂɛnkə; uk, Степан Прокопович Тимошенко, Stepan Prokopovych Tymoshenko; ...

: ''History of strength of materials''. 1953, Nachdruck. 1983. French civil engineers École des Ponts ParisTech alumni Corps des ponts 1765 births 1836 deaths Scientists from Caen 18th-century French mathematicians 19th-century French mathematicians Fluid dynamicists {{France-scientist-stub